The present invention relates to boxes, containers or cases formed of molded plastic material, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or the like, for use in storing and transporting goods. The invention is particularly adapted for the transport and storage of unstable bulk commodities such as, for example, beverage syrups or post mixes.
United States patent application Ser. No. 07/493,728, filed Mar. 14, 1990 by William P. Apps, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a box or container system of the concerned type particularly adapted for use in a beverage syrup delivery system. The boxes or containers embodied in that patent application comprise open-top bodies that are formed, for example, of high-density polypropylene and are adapted to receive a flexible bag containing beverage syrup. The boxes are particularly designed for vertical nesting by the cooperative effects of the body profile represented by alternating projections and recesses from the box body walls and, for stacking, by a flange extending about a rim around the top opening, as well as the presence of feet and lugs thereon for fixing the relative position of the stacked boxes. Moreover, the box walls are downwardly and inwardly inclined whereby the aforementioned projections and intermediate recesses cooperate to enhance compact internesting of the boxes. In order to accommodate exposure of a spigot attached to each beverage syrup bag, each box, preferably on one end wall, is provided with an opening designed to permit release of the spigot from the box, as well as a means for fixing the spigot to the box for ready access at a time of use.
Boxes or containers, according to United States patent application Ser. No. 07/493,728, although constituting a significant improvement over comparable boxes or containers of the prior art, suffer the problems that, being open-topped, the contents of the boxes, e.g., beverage syrup bags, are exposed to possible damage during storage or shipment. Additionally, due to the fluid nature of the contained bags, the bags have a tendency to migrate out of the boxes while traversing conveyors along steep inclines. Also, when the bodies of the boxes or containers are formed of walls having a relatively thin transverse section, the fluid nature of the stored contents tends to create a twisting and/or bowing of the walls of the boxes when, due to movement, the liquid syrup undergoes fluid motion within the respective bags.
It is the amelioration of these problems, therefore, to which the present invention is directed.